Lubricating system for cloth shearing machines



May 29.12945. w.A N. HADL/EY LUBRICATING SYSTEM vFOR CLOTH-SHEARING MACHINES s sheets-shea 1 Filed Feb. '9; V1944 INVENTOR Mamma /K/Zwur BY Xa/ao r ATTO NEYS May 29, 1945. w AN v HADLEY "2,377,146

i LUBRICATING SYSTEM FOR CLOTH SHERING MACHINES Filed Feb. 9, 1944 v 3 sheets-sheet 2 k INVEN-roR Mugla/{MMI} vM2=\Y29, 1945- w. N. HADLEY' 2,377,146

' LUBRICATVING SYSTEM FOR CLOTH SHEARING MACHINES l Filed Feb. 9, 1944 3 Sheets-.Sheet 3 INVENTQR Mz razza A032174 fr l y zTToRrYs ledger blade I I.

Patented May-29, 1945 LUBRICATING SYSTEM FOR CLOTH SHEARING MACHINES Wilfred- N. Hadley, Springfield, Vt.assignor-to Parks L` Woolson Machine Company, Springfield, Vt., acorporation of Vermont Lapplication February 9, 1944, Serial No. 521,641

12 Claims.

` This invention relates to cloth` shearing `ma chines, and in particular to improvements in lubricating devices for the cutting blades. The

shearing of lthefsurface of cloth is accomplished byy drawing the cloth over a straight edge, or cloth rest, in close proximity to a stationary cutter membercalled a ledger blade. A rotating cutter member in the form of a multi-bladed knife, the blades of which are generally helical in form, is revolved so that its blades move past the end of the ledger blade and shear off any fibers projecting more than the desired amount. Thefriction of the revolving cutters against the ledger blade is sufficient to absorb considerable power and to-cause heating to the point'where the temper of the cutting edge of the ledger blade would be drawn were the surfaces no*u kept oiled. It is customary to lubricate the revolving l cutter by allowing it to run in light contact with an oil-soaked felt or swab. These swabs are vneither uniform nor positive in operation and many unsuccessful attempts have been made to provide an automatic oiling system giving better control of the oil supplied to therotating blade.

In accordance with my invention the oil is supplied to one or both of the cutter members, preferably the rotating shear blades, in atomized form preferably by a spray head traversed periodically either from one end of the cutter members to the other or to the extent found desirable. Preferably, also, automatic control means is provided so that the traverseor shift occurs at regular intervals which may be adjusted as desired.

The invention will now b e described in connection with the accompanying drawings, which show the preferred but no-t the only way of embodying it in practical form, and in which Fig; 1 is a section through a cloth shear showing the mounting of the spray head; i

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevation looking from the right in Fig. 1 with much of the spray head itself omitted;

Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are electrical wiring diagrams showing different circuit conditions for one form of control means; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic showing of a modification.

The cloth weby w is led at a sharp angle over the cloth rest I in close adjacency to the cutting end of the stationary cutter member or A revolving cutter member, generally called alrevolver I'2, carries a series of helical fly blades I3 passing in close contact with the ledger blade. The drive and adjustment of these parts are not necessary for an understanding of the present invention and will not be described;

`Running across the machine parallel to the axis of the revolver is a suitable carrier such as a screw, which may be driven by any 'suitable power source.` For purposes of illustration, I-havc shown a screw threaded shaft Iii mounted in `suitable bearings and driven as by a belt I6 from a motor I7, here shown as of the reversible threephase type. A spray head ISfis threaded to shaft I5 and carries a positioningbearing I9 resting on a transverse rod ZCI so that it cannot rotate with shaft I5 but can progress along it. The spray head carries an oil container 2| from which arises an atomizer 22 hereshown as of a standard commercial De Vilbiss type receiving compressed air through` a hose 23. Any form of sprayeror atomizer maybe used, andsince the details ofy the one chosen for illustration form no part of the invention it will not be described in detail'. `The atomizer may be positioned to direct the oil spray against either cutter member, but is preferably positioned adjacent therevolver I2, Howeven as shown-in Fig". `o, representing the adaptation of the invention to` another standard form of shear, the atomizer 22 may ,directv the oil-against the lower side of the ledger blade II instead of against the revolver I2. Thefusual manual control handle, by the depression of whichthe atomizer is put into operation, is here replaced by a handle 2li normally held down by a spring 25y and adapted to be raised at either end of itsy traverse by contact with a stationary cam 25. It will be seen that if the motor I'I` is started in the proper direction the shaft I5 will be revolved and spray head will be caused to progress from one side of the machine to the other. leaves its initialposition. ther handle 24 will` disengage the cam. 2,5,and will be drawn down by spring 2.5 to start operation of the atomizer. When the spray head reachesthe opposite side of the machine, the cam 26 at that side will again raise the handle to kstop the flow of atomized oil. l

While .the motor may be manually controlled to cause the spray,v head `to bemoved from one side to the other, or otherwise shifted, as desired, -i-t is preferable to provide automatic means wherebyv this will be done without dependence uponv the constant watchfulness of an attendant. I prefer to use wholly lelectrical mechanism of generally standard type as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. A three-phase line 30, 3l, 32l is directed to the motor Il alternatively through a pair of triple As soon as the spray head contactors 33A and 33R, it being apparent that the connection of wires 30 and 32 to the motor will be reversed depending upon which contactor is being used, Contactors 33A and SSR are actuated respectively by solenoids 34A and 34B. The primary 35 of a transformer is connected across wires 3l, 32, and one end 36 of the secondary 3l to a line 38 joining limit switches 39A and BSR actuated by abutments 48A and EUR on the spray head I8. Switch 39A is connected through solenoid 34A, a contactor IA actuated by solenoid 34R. and aI contactor 42A actuated by solenoid 34A back to the second end 43 of the transformer secondary 3l. Switch BSR is connected through solenoid MR, a contactor MR actuated by solenoid 34A and a contactor 45R actuated by solenoid 34B back to the end 43 of the transformer secondary 31. There are connections between the points of contactors MA, @R and 42A, MR as shown. The activating coil 46 of a time delay mechanism G1, which may be either of the heater or the motor'type, is connected between ends 36 and 43 of the transformer secondary through contactors 55A and 55R actuated by solenoids 34A and SAR respectively, A predetermined time after the activation of coil 45 a timer contacto-r GS will be closed momentarily, producing a current through either solenoid 36A or 34R depending upon whether limit switch 39A or 39H is open at the moment.

In Fig. 3 the spray head is traveling towards limit switch 39A, At this time current is flowing through that switch and contactors IHA and MA to energize solenoid 34A and hold its controlled contactors in the positions shown. Solenoid 36B is not energized. As soon as limit switch 39A is actuated by abutment 40A the circuit through solenoid 34A will be broken, both solenoids then being de-energized, and the current conditions will be as Shown in full lines in Fig. 4. The motor stops. Contactors 55A and 55R being both closed, current flows through the timer activating coil 46 and starts the operation of the time delay mechanism, As soon as this closes contactor 48 a momentary current flows as indicated by the dotted lines, causing energization of solenoid SAR through contactor AGR and limit switch 3BR. As the contractors controlled by this solenoid are shifted, the circuit through it is made through contactor 45E as in Fig. 5 and at the same time the current through coil 46 is broken by contactor 55R, the contactor 48 released, and the timer automatically reset by the mechanism common to such standard devices. The motor will then star-t in the reverse direction, carrying the spray head across the machine rearwardly. A similar action will occur at the other end of the machine except that the role of the limit switches will be interchanged.

It will be seen that, depending upon the setting of the time delay mechanism, the spray head will halt at each end of the machine for a predetermined period, and will then perform a traverse across the machine at a constant speed. During its rest periods no oil will be discharged due to the action of cams 2t, but delivery of atomized oil will start as soon as the spray head moves away from its cam. As it travels, the atomizing device will bathe the rotating shear blades in a light mist of oil, lubricating them t0 the extent determined, and leaving a suicient deposit of oil so that the blades will remain sufficiently lubricated until the next traverse of the spray head.

What I claim is:

1, In a cloth shearing machine, a xed cutter member, a revolving cutter member, meansV mounted on the machine for spraying oil against one of said members, and mechanically actuated means for shifting the sprayingl means longitudinally of the cutter members.

2. In a cloth shearing machine of the type having a xed cutter member and a revolving cutter member, means for spraying oil against one of said members, means for shifting the spraying means longitudinally of the cutter members, and means inhibiting operation of the spraying means when the latter is at rest.

- 3. In a cloth shearing machine of the type having a fixed cutter member and a revolving cutter member, a support for an oil spraying means, means for shifting said support longitudinally of the cutter members, and means to control said support shifting means.

4. In a cloth shearing machine of the type having a xed cutter member and a revolving cutter member, an oil spray head, means for traversing the spray head along the cutter members from one end to the other in successively opposite directions, and means for causing the spray head to discharge oil against one of the cutter members during its movement.

5. In a cloth shearing machine of the type having a xed cutter member and a revolving cutter member, an oil spray head, means for traversing the spray head along the cutter members from one end to the other in successively opposite directions, means for causing a predetermined dwell of the spray head at each end of its traverse, and means for causing the spray head to discharge oil against one of the cutter members during its movement.

6. In a cloth shearing machine of the type havH ing a Xed ledger blade and a revolving series oi cutter blades, a screw shaft mounted parallel to the axis of the rotating blades, a spray head threaded upon the shaft, means for guiding the spray head for travel along the shaft, and means for rotating the screw shaft periodically in opposite directions.

7. In a cloth shearing machine of the type having a xed ledger blade and a revolving series of cutter blades, a screw shaft mounted parallel to the axis of the rotating blades, a spray head threaded upon the shaft, means for guiding the spray head for travel along the shaft, means for rotating the screw shaft periodically in opposite directions, and means for causing a predetermined dwell of the spray head at each end of its traverse.

8. In a cloth shearing machine of the type having a fixed ledger blade and a revolving series of cutter blades, a screw shaft mounted parallel to the axis of the rotating blades, a spray head threaded upon the shaft, means for guiding the spray head for travel along the shaft, means for rotating the screw shaft periodically in opposite directions, means for causing a predetermined dwell of the spray head at each end of its traverse, and means inhibiting operation of the spray head during its periods of rest at the ends of its traverse.

9. A blade oilng device for cloth shearing ma-y chines of the type having a fixed cutter member and a revolving cutter member which comprises; means for spraying oil against one of the cutter' members, means to Shift the spraying means longitudially with respect to the cutter members, means to interrupt the travel oi the spraying means, and means inhibiting discharge of the oil except when the spraying means is in motion.

l0. A blade oiling device for cloth shearing machines of the type having a fixed cutter member and a revolving cutter member which comprises; means for spraying oil against one of the cutter members, means for shifting the spraying means longitudinally of the cutter members from one end to the other, means for periodically causing a predetermined dwell of the spraying means at each end of its traverse, and means inhibiting operation of the spraying means during said periods of dwell.

11. A blade oiling device for cloth shearing machines of the type having a fixed ledger blade and a revolving series of cutter blades, which comprises; a screw threaded shaft adapted to be mounted in parallel relation with the axis of the rotating blades of the shearing machine, a spray head threaded on the shaft, means for guiding the spray head for travel along the shaft,

and means for rotating the screw shaft successively in opposite directions to cause the spray head to travel back and forth along the shaft.

12. A blade oiling device for cloth shearing machines of the type having a xed ledger blade and a revolving series of cutter blades, which compri-ses; a screw threaded shaft adapted to be mounted in parallel relation with the axis of the rotating blades of the shearing machine, a spray head threaded on the shaft, means for guiding the spray head for travel along the shaft, means for rotating the screw shaft successively in opposite directions to cause the spray head to travel back and forth along the shaft, means to periodically stop the rotating of the shaft, and means to inhibit operation of the spraying head when the latter is at rest.

WILFRED N. HADLEY. 

